To say the beginning of the Golden State Warriors 2026-27 season was a disaster would be to say the 2008 Financial Crisis was a disaster, that the Black Death was a disaster or that a Category 5 hurricane is a disaster. Oh really, I'm glad you're here to tell us these things!

The Warriors made their all-in moves already; they did the Jimmy Butler trade and then signed Kristaps Porzingis to what looked like it would become one of the all-time debacle contracts. Porzingis just retired, and his $20 million contract, which will not be paid out either way, is now a ghost "trade chip" that can be used to match salary in some kind of ... deal of some sort.

But then this incomprehensible development took shape, really the only thing that could have saved the Warriors from total irrelevance for the rest of Stephen Curry's spectacular career: Curry became ... peak Curry again. He's destroying teams, scoring over 30 points per game on over 45 percent from beyond the arc. The Warriors find themselves near the top of the Western Conference, now poised to use the Porzingis money to make something happen and go for it this year. Can this possibly be real?

The Warriors can and should contend, but it's up to Curry

It will depend entirely on Curry, of course, and if he's just an MVP candidate again at 38 years old, an unfathomable development for a small guard, a position that often ages like a carton of whole milk left out in the Mojave. This is of course no mortal small guard, but this is gobsmacking efficiency in Golden State's 8-3 start. Hitting 45 percent of 3-pointers is a feat Curry has achieved several times in his career, but not lately, and would represent a fairly inexplicable spike in shooting percentage because ... reasons. But I'm all for it.

The other thing it will depend on is Yaxel Lendeborg, who none of us (perhaps other than my main man Rickey O'Donnell he was Yaxel's number one fan) thought would be a 20+ points-per-game scorer and fill the second creator role immediately like it was nothing. Lendeborg is where I think there might be some smoke and mirrors, since he is making over 44 percent of his 3-pointers on over six attempts per game. He was a good shooter in college, but he was not that good of a shooter, and that is going to cool off.

They need to make a trade, since if you take a gander at the rest of the roster, you'll find you'd need a rather-inflated sense of Brandon Podziemski's abilities to talk yourself into this squad as a contender. But Jimmy Butler is theoretically going to return at some point this season, and if Curry can keep them afloat until then? This could work.

At the very least, why not try to contend? You're not trading Curry, everyone has made that abundantly clear, so just go with this and make whatever happens ... happen. We all want one last ride for the Warriors, and nobdoy wants Curry's career to finish like Kobe Bryant's, with a rotating cast of nobodies missing the playoffs and accomplishing nothing for years on end. Golden State contending would be more fun; let's be fun.